Cocos Island Finch

Cocos Island Finch
Cocos Island Finch
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Thraupidae
Genus: Pinaroloxias
Sharpe, 1885
Species: P. inornata
Binomial name
Pinaroloxias inornata
(Gould, 1843)

The Cocos Island Finch or Cocos Finch, Pinaroloxias inornata, is the only one of Darwin's finches not native to the Galápagos Islands, and the only member of the genus Pinaroloxias. Sometimes classified in the family Emberizidae, more recent studies have shown it to belong in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is endemic to Cocos Island, which is approximately 360 miles south of Costa Rica.

It is a chunky 12 cm long finch weighing around 12.5 g and with a black decurved pointed bill. The male is entirely black, while the female is a heavily-streaked brown, with a paler underside. The young are similar but have yellow bills. The standard clutch is two brown-spotted white eggs, which are hatched in a roughly spherical nest built at the end of a tree branch.

The Cocos Island Finch is the most abundant landbird on Cocos Island. It can be found in every habitat on the island and eats a wide range of plant and insect food.

This species qualifies as Vulnerable because of its small range.

References

  • BirdLife International (2006). Pinaroloxias inornata. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable

Stiles, F. G.; Skutch, A. F. (October 1989). A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4. 

External links


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